Insert Coin(s): How to Expand XBLA

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Three ways to keep the online arcade packed with happy gamers.

By Rachel Langdon

The Xbox Live Arcade has been both a shining example of Microsoft's ability to recognize stellar projects that otherwise would have gone unnoticed and a disaster that could drive away potential sales. I realize that I'm using two polar extremes but let's take a quick trip back two years and see what the XBLA was like.

Between the systems launch and July 2006 only 21 had been released for Microsoft's fledgling download service. Out of those twenty titles only 2 were considered original titles – Geometry Wars and Hexic HD. Considering Hexic is bundled with the hardware, if Microsoft was trying to court users to shy away from spending $60 on a full retail game and spend some time with family and friends playing a casual game they weren't doing a very good job.

It was in the later half of 2006 that Microsoft must have realized the Arcade was not living up to its potential. Major innovations of that year included a sorting system for all arcade games and the ability to download new games automatically. While these changes combined with an increasingly impressive line up of games are helping the service there are some changes that Microsoft could make to continue their success and improve the experience for customers.

Lower the Price Point on Ports Recent releases have steered clear of the agonizing 1,200 points that some games have launched at but that doesn't mean we should be paying ten dollars for ports of twenty year old titles. An excellent example would be the release of "Discs of Tron" – a game that critics said stayed faithful to the original but didn't have enough improvements to warrant the ten bucks.

Ports of older arcade titles and previous generation console releases have powered the excitement of the Xbox community for the few months. Games like ikaruga, Rez HD and Triggerheart Excellica are excellent titles that may not have been accessible after their original runs but that doesn't mean they should be the same price as brand new titles that use original ideas and concepts. Insider has written at length about what deserves to be remade or rereleased in our AutoLockon series.

The price points for Xbox live games should be something like the following:

$5.00: Straight arcade ports that do not feature any up scaled graphics or online improvements $8.00: Ports of previous generation titles or older arcade titles that feature significant improvements $10.00: Original titles developed specifically for the Xbox Live Arcade that pushes the boundaries of the platform.

Embracing the XNA Community At the Game Developers Conference the XNA community launcher was unveiled and several unique titles were showcased. Interesting titles like Dishwasher Samurai and Jelly Car showed that true innovation can come from developers without offices or large budgets. The XNA community should not be a gated community as it is now – requiring a $100 subscription.

Microsoft should enable all 360 owners regardless of subscriptions to access trials of the best of the XNA community. Why? Because there's already a vibrant community of free games on the PC and new flash developers are popping up all of the time. Games are quickly becoming a commodity as easily created and traded as music. Each year more indie programmers give away their work online. If Microsoft gave the XNA community as low a bar as possible they'd get in on the ground floor of the indie revolution.

A brief look at several Xbox communities during the GDC preview showed that games like Dishwasher and Jellycar lit the community on fire. Anyone should be able to try their hand at development for little to no cost and the best of these games should be available to all users on a regular schedule similar to Xbox Live Wednesdays.

Game Sharing: It's Not Breaking DRM Users of Sony's PlayStation Network have discovered a grey area tactic allowing them to share titles they've paid for. While this method might not be the most desirable it does provide some possible inspiration for a future dashboard update. Imagine being able to share the latest XBLA release with a friend giving them 48 hours access to the full product. This method has proven one of the more interesting features on Zune and would prove to very successful if implemented correctly.

Another issue surrounding the DRM is the ability to transfer your content from one hard drive to another. Should an Xbox break, or the hard drive be upgraded from 20 gigs to 120 none of the licensed content or arcade games will be playable offline. You're options are limited to calling customer care and waiting 30 days for all the content to be re-licensed. All of our content is already bound to a GamerTag so why are we waiting thirty days? Similar to the repair process all of this should be automated. Simply sign in to your GamerTag and wait twenty minutes for everything to renew.

These criticisms and possible improvements are only opinions but many other Xbox owners have voiced the desire to see these features in future updates. Whatever improvements Microsoft has planned for the XBLA it will continue to be a source of entertainment and enjoyment for Xbox owners. What improvements would you like to see come to the Xbox Live Arcade? Let us know by writing a quick comment at the bottom of the page.